The Oatmeal Raises $211,223 For Charity, Middle Finger At FunkyJunk

The Oatmeal has triumphed. Matthew Inman, creator of the popular web comic and subject of one of the odder lawsuits to enchant the Internet in recent times, has raised $211,223.04 for charity and wriggled free of the charges that inspired the fundraiser in the first place.

Digital Life has a blow-by-blow account of the surprising story, but here it is in brief: A few weeks ago, Inman, creator of The Oatmeal, became the subject of a bizarre lawsuit. Seattle lawyer Charles Carreon, on behalf of a website called FunkyJunk, was pressing Inman for $20,000 in a defamation case. The funny thing was, Inman had alleged FunkyJunk had plagiarized Inman extensively and for a significant period some months earlier.

Inman turned the whole loony episode into a comic strip to bring the Internet in on the situation. While he had everyone’s attention, though, Inman also set up a donations bin on Indiegogo—for charity—to match the $20,000 that was being demanded of him. The Internet responded with that amount in 64 minutes, racking up a grand total that's more than ten times the figure Inman was hoping to achieve. Carreon then launched his own lawsuit threatening Inman and the charities he had promised the money to.

With the collapse of the cases, due to Carreon's withdrawal, Inman's now closed the fundraiser and cashed in. But before sending away all that money to do some good, he decided to post some victory photographs on his website. A bonus: Tucked in there is a snap of the custom care package he plans to mail to Charles Carreon.